Mercedes Benz launches new A Class

“With the interior of the new E-Class, we are giving a new interpretation to the concept of contemporary luxury”, said Hartmut Sinkwitz, Head of Interior Design. “We have designed a spacious and intelligent interior”. Mercedes still isn’t ready to show the E-Class itself, but it did reveal its interior.

This is your first look at the interior of the all-new, fifth-generation Mercedes E-Class, which will debut – along with the outside of the vehicle, thankfully – at the Detroit Motor Show in January. We’ll be interested to see how this works in real-world use. If the exterior is reserved apart from trickle-down S-Class touches like the LED-studded headlights, the new innards of the E-Class mark a definite departure for the M-B mainstay mid-sizer. One major change is the addition of solid buttons to activate essential driver assistance systems, which used to be a whole song and dance of diving deep into the Distronic Plus menu through the instrument cluster’s screen. Drivers also have the option to choose from three display themes – Classic, Sport and Progressive each with its own layout and display styles. The other is the center console, as there are different ones for automatic and manual transmissions.

The E-class display differs from the two-screen approach in the S class, which has buttons positioned between its two screens.

The focus of the new technology originates from what the Director of Interior Design, Hartmut Sinkwitz, calls “a desire to blend high-tech with traditional craftsmanship”, and Mercedes-Benz’s tenant of “emotional intelligence”. Having selected the desired function with a swipe, the driver presses the appropriate touch control button to trigger the function. This, too, allows all functions to be controlled by single or multi-finger gestures (multitouch). Which, by the way, might build up into a very unsafe habit when the system isn’t available. True to Mercedes-Benz’s design philosophy of sensual purity, it employs technological innovation and high-grade equipment to create an exceptionally emotive experience for driver and front passenger.

The redesigned E class is bigger in all interior dimensions, with rear-seat legroom most improved. Now that is taking personalisation to a whole new level. Oh, and there’s also an LED ambient lighting system with 64 configurable colors. During this year the company has opened 14 dealerships and one more, the 15th one, will be opened by the end of December.